Brakes locking up on my '60 LeSabre

[Tom Gallagher]

Hey Bill,

Good Job!

How does it feel to have the dream of a livetime come true?

Regards'

Tom Gallagher

[Hobart]

Thanks, Tom. I'm having a blast, had the car for just 8 days (4 of which it was on jackstands), and I've already put about 250 miles on her. I'm trying to get a feel for her road-worthiness, as I'm gonna do the whole Power Tour this year. So far, looks like a little TLC and some odds and ends; plus I'm considering converting to an alternator. Catch you all later.

[rcmastersrookie]

Willy, I just got a 60 Buick and I'm converting to a dual master cylinder per your post. I have a few questions for you. Would it be possible for me to talk to you on the phone. I could call you, my number is 813-929-3405.
I stayed with the drum/drum. With drums on all four corners, you do not need a proportioning valve. I did just as you describe, I routed one line from the master cylinder to the front brakes and one to the back…I will probably hear different, but I don’t think it really matters which goes to which.

You will notice the feed line from your current master cylinder is 1/4-inch tubing and goes to a distribution block which has three 3/16-inch outlets...one feeds the rear brakes and the others each go to a front brake. I removed the feed line and filled that hole in the distribution block with a 1/4-inch inverted flare plug (Weatherhead #131x4). I then removed the line on the distribution block that feeds the rear brakes (carefully bending it away from the distribution block) and using an inverted flare union (Weatherhead #302x3), I spliced that line and routed it to the master cylinder.

To plumb the front brakes, I routed a line from the master cylinder to the 3/16-inch port on the distribution block that previously fed the rear brakes.

To hook up the brake light switch, you will need a “female branch T-fitting” (Weatherhead #652x33) that is 3/16-inch inverted flare on two sides and 1/8-inch pipe thread in the middle. Plumb this into one of your feed lines. The brake switch screws into the 1/8-inch pipe thread on the "tee". If you are careful where you locate the "tee", you will not have to modify your wiring harness.

For the flare nuts, make sure you use steel brake line nuts and not brass flare nuts. The brass nuts are prone to rounding off even with a tubing wrench. I put anti-seize on all the fitting threads taking care to only get it on the threads and not on the sealing surface which would contaminate the brake fluid.

The booster is a tight fit, but it will fit. No modifications are needed for attaching the brake pedal to the booster, and the firewall bolt pattern is the same. I had a slight interference with a butt-seam on my firewall that is below the booster. I took a hammer and brass punch and bent the seam down slightly to gain clearance.

You will note that the master cylinder has odd-ball threads on the outlets. If I remember correctly, one is 9/16-inch and the other is 5/8-inch. I had a kind person at the parts counter that really worked with me and I finally found the correct fittings from the Weatherhead catalog, but I don’t remember the part numbers. My suggestion is to buy these from Master Power Brakes as they are listed in their catalog.

You can down load the Weatherhead catalog (it's 11.5 MB) at: http://hydraulics.eaton.com/products...OV-MC001-E.pdf you can then order the fittings by their Weatherhead part number at your local NAPA store.

I sent a couple of picture via e-mail. If any of this is not clear, let me know and I will try to explain better.

Regards,
willyswan[/quote]

[Hobart]

rcmastersrookie, I just noticed your posts about the conversion - I haven't been online for a while. If you still have questions and I can help, please email me: lynchmobracing@yahoo.com

[Jim Carmichael]

Wish I had read this before I spent $400.00 to get my old booster rebuilt for my 1962 Buick wagon. I never even thought about changing but would have liked to have the dual system.

Just one thought the prop valve has an electrical connection that could be used to ground the parking brake light circut to warn about one side of the system failing.